This invention relates generally to interactive video communications and more particularly concerns viewer controlled channel programming guide displays.
Channel programming guide information is presently displayed to the home TV viewer in a non-interactive scroll. When the home viewer selects the channel programming guide display, the display is viewed as it is transmitted from the cable network. Consequently, the viewer may have to wait for almost the entire running time of the scroll for a desired segment of the scroll to be displayed on the viewer""s screen. Furthermore, the program information on the scroll is changed at discrete time intervals selected by the cable provider. Consequently, only the programming information included in the discrete time interval of the transmitted scroll can be observed by the home viewer. Later programming information will become available to the viewer only when that programming information comes into the particular discrete time interval selected for transmission by the cable provider. In other words, the viewer has no alternative but to wait for the scroll to display the desired programming time slot and, when it is displayed, can view it only for as long as that scroll segment remains on the screen during its normal running time. Any distraction at this juncture starts a new waiting period. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a process and in-home scrolling hardware by which a home viewer may interactively control a channel programming guide. Another object of this invention is to provide a process and in-home scrolling hardware in which the scroll can be stopped by the home viewer. Another object of this invention is to provide a process and in-home scrolling hardware by which a home viewer may forward scroll the channel programming guide. Another object of this invention is to provide a process and in-home scrolling hardware by which a home viewer may reverse scroll the channel program guide. Another object of this invention is to provide a process and in-home scrolling hardware by which a home viewer may select a discrete time interval of channel program guide information from a plurality of discrete time intervals of such information.
In accordance with the invention, a system interactively controlled by a TV viewer remote control transmitter displays portions of a scroll program guide on the viewer""s display screen. A tuner receives TV radio frequency or optical transmission signals in a plurality of cable channels and passes a viewer usable signal of a selected one of the channels to a signal combiner. A computer receives any of a plurality of control signals from the TV viewer remote control transmitter. It also controls the tuner to pass the viewer usable signal in response to one of the control signals from the TV viewer remote control transmitter. It also receives and stores a scroll input picture image signal containing local program guide data and generates a scroll output picture image signal consisting of at least a portion of the scroll input picture image signal. The signal combiner combines the viewer usable signal from the tuner with the output picture image signal from the computer to provide a display signal for input to the viewer""s display screen. The computer is responsive to a xe2x80x9cforwardxe2x80x9d control signal from the remote to advance the scroll output picture image signal, to a xe2x80x9creversexe2x80x9d control signal from the remote to back up the scroll output picture image signal and to a xe2x80x9cstopxe2x80x9d control signal from the remote to freeze the scroll output picture image signal. It is also responsive to directional control signals from the remote to reposition a xe2x80x9chighlightxe2x80x9d background to corresponding program data slots on the scroll grid and to display further program information corresponding to the program of the data slot shown in xe2x80x9chighlightxe2x80x9d. In addition, it is responsive to further directional control signals to redraw the grid to display earlier or later time segment program data than is normally displayed on the viewer""s screen.